Posted by Chaz Scoggins, Sun Staff

One of the problems facing a team with the second-highest payroll in baseball and two World Series championships in four years is that the youngest players who have played key roles in the club’s success believe they should be earning more than a few thousand dollars above the major-league minimum.

Last year players like Kevin Youkilis — who earned a World Series ring in 2004 — and Jonathan Papelbon weren’t especially happy with the raises being offered by the Red Sox. Youkilis had scored 100 runs in his first season as a regular, and Papelbon was an All-Star who saved 35 games as a rookie. They didn’t gripe too loudly, but clearly they weren’t happy when the Red Sox unilaterally renewed their contracts.

This year Youkilis was arbitration-eligible and cracked the millionaire’s club, octupling his 2007 salary of about $450,000. Papelbon made a little more noise this spring and was on the verge of being renewed but finally reached a settlement with the Red Sox that nearly doubles his 2007 salary. His paycheck goes from $425,000 to $775,000.

Now, I don’t begrudge a player trying to earn as much money as he can. But I also understand that the only real control teams can exercise over their payrolls anymore is by limiting the salaries of players who don’t have enough service time to qualify for arbitration or free agency.
After almost 30 years, teams have finally figured out how to play the arbitration game, and they rarely lose anymore. But it’s also true that players never truly lose in arbitration; they’re guaranteed a huge raise even if they don’t win their cases.

I’m sure it’s frustrating for young stars like Papelbon and Youkilis to have outstanding years and get rewarded with a raise of $20-30,000. But with the major-league minimum at $380,000, they’re still handsomely compensated. And if you’re in your mid-20s and can’t live for three years on a salary ranging from $380-450,000, there’s something seriously wrong with your lifestyle.

In a perfect world, everybody would be compensated commensurate with his true worth. But the world isn’t perfect, even in baseball. After Darryl Strawberry won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1983, Mets GM Lou Gorman generously gave him a $200,000 contract for the next year, a huge raise even though Strawberry wouldn’t be eligible for salary arbitration for another two years. If Gorman thought he was purchasing some goodwill and might catch a break from Strawberry on the other end someday when the players have all the bargaining leverage, he was wrong.

This is the system, and the young players have to live with it. After all, it’s a pretty good living anyway, isn’t it?